Uber Driver Took Sleeping Passenger to His Home to Sexually Assault Her: DA

An Uber driver raped a female passenger at his Flushing, Queens, apartment in the early morning hours of Aug. 17, police said. View Full Caption

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FLUSHING — An Uber driver drove an intoxicated female passenger who passed out in the back of his car to his apartment in Flushing and sexually assaulted her, according to police and prosecutors.

Kar Keong Liao, 47, picked up the 31-year-old woman at East 52nd Street and Second Avenue about 2 a.m. Thursday and was supposed to take her to her East Village home, police said.

The victim passed out after drinking a bottle of wine with someone else at a bar and was put in Liao's Uber, according to a criminal complaint.

Liao told detectives that after trying to get her out of the car at her apartment, she said she wanted to go to his house, according to the criminal complaint.

He admitted that when he took her back to his Sanford Avenue apartment, near Fuller Place, he put her in bed, then touched her sexually, the complaint states. He also told detectives he had tried to have sex with her but was unable to perform, prosecutors said.

The woman told police she briefly awoke in Liao's apartment while a man was having intercourse with her and then she passed out again, according to prosecutors. When she woke up again, she was naked, and saw Liao asleep in the living room, the complaint states.

Liao told the victim he was her Uber driver and offered to drive her home, the complaint states. He then told her he wore a condom and they had not had sex, but admitted to assaulting her with his fingers, according to the complaint.

Police arrested Liao on Saturday about 7:45 p.m., they said. He has been charged with a criminal sex act in the third-degree, a felony, as well as attempted rape and sexual abuse in the second-degree, both misdemeanors, records show.

Liao is currently being held at a Bronx jail on $10,000 cash or $15,000 bail, city Department of Correction records show. He is due back in court Sept. 8.

An attorney for Liao could not immediately be reached.

A spokeswoman for Uber called the incident "deeply concerning" and said the driver has been banned. The company also confirmed the crime is in violation of its guidelines and it is cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation.

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